New Data May Link Flint Water System, Legionnaires’ Deaths

New research is raising questions about what role the water system in Flint, MI, played in a major outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease…Experts say the findings “suggest that Legionella thrived throughout the Flint water system, making it the real culprit in Legionnaires’ deaths and illnesses in 2014 and 2015,” the report said.

The state does not agree. Since the Legionnaires’ deaths included patients at McLaren-Flint hospital, the state is focusing on the hospital, rather than the water system, as the source of the problem. The state says that “the supply water coming from the city of Flint is not contributing to the Legionella issues at McLaren [hospital] and any issues are likely internal to the hospital system,”.

[A] 2016 study found Legionella bacteria levels in Flint tap water were up to 1,000 times higher than normal,” Michigan Radio reported.